


Help! My Boyfriend is Actually a Criminal!

by ImmortalHKitty



Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF, fake chop - Fandom
Genre: Aleks is in Fake Chop but James isn't, M/M, also the whole los santos city thing is confusing to me so that's messed up, it's a nice ending I promise, new year new story, ps sorry if there are any mistakes, this is also the longest thing I've written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-26 16:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13239747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmortalHKitty/pseuds/ImmortalHKitty
Summary: James learns one day that his boyfriend, Aleksandr, isn't who he says he is.





	Help! My Boyfriend is Actually a Criminal!

Aleks knows he’s an idiot. He’s done his fair share of doing stupid shit when he was a teenager in middle and high school. Even as a 25 year old, he continues to do stupid shit on the daily. This can range from accidently locking his keys in his car to trying to show off during a heist where the result could be his death. However, no amount of stupidity could amount to what he’s doing now. He’s dating an average citizen of Los Santos and, to put it simply, Aleks really doesn’t want to break up anytime soon. 

All of Aleks’ crew knows he loves to go out to the club and drink. He does this virtually every night, and he has enough money to keep the drinks rolling. He met his shouldn’t be boyfriend, James, at his favorite club. It was supposed to be a one night stand, but come morning, Aleks liked the sight of curly black hair splayed all over his pillow and a tan tattooed arm around his waist. James seemed to like the sight of Aleks since after that they decided to keep in touch.

They’ve been dating for five months now and as each month passes by, the guilt of not telling his boyfriend about his real life eats at Aleks. Not even Brett, the only person in the world Aleks trusts more than anyone, knows about James. Aleks has a feeling Brett would kill James just to make sure he never finds out about Fake Chop just incase he calls the police on them. It’s for the better that James is unaware about his illegal actions for however long this relationship will last.

 

“I just really wish people weren’t such assholes,” James mutters, snuggling into Aleks more. He had a rough day at work, so Aleks being the nice, even though he is still hiding a huge secret, boyfriend he is invited James over for a homemade dinner and a relaxing binge watching session of any show of James’ choosing.

“I know, I agree. People fucking suck.” Aleks had lied about his job and said he works at a mall that he knows is far away from James’ area. Being a criminal comes with meeting dozens of assholes, so Aleks knows what he means. However, he feels like the assoles he has to deal with are vastly different than the ones that James deals with.

“She was too dumb to figure out that the hair didn’t belong to me since it was shorter than mine and blonde.” James works as a waiter at a place Aleks has heard of, but has never been to. It’s one of those rich people restaurants, and even though Aleks has enough money to afford dinner there, he wouldn’t be caught dead at a place like that.

“Those rich fuckers love to complain. Don’t let them bother you, they have nothing better to do.” Aleks continues to scroll through Netflix until James tells him to stop on Breaking Bad.

“Ever seen it?” asks James.

“Yeah, but I don’t mind watching it again.” Aleks presses play then situates himself so that he’s even more comfortably cuddled with James on the couch.

 

It’s all peaceful until three and a half episodes in. Aleks never thought this would happen, especially while James is at his house, but it seems like today isn’t his lucky day. From down below, James and Aleks hear the sounds of the door being kicked in.

“What the fuck?” James shouts in surprise, but Aleks immediately clamps a hand over his mouth.

“Shh, follow me.” Aleks’ heart is racing, but he already came up with an escape plan if anyone ever decided to break into his house. He knows this isn’t any regular break in, though, since his security system would have alerted him. Someone who has incredible hacking skills is helping whoever these people are.

“Aleks, what the fuck? We have to hide. They’ll take what they want and leave,” James whispers in a panic. His eyes are wide in fear, but he goes along with Aleks yanking him over to a window.

“That won’t work. Trust me. Now, get out.” Aleks shoves James towards the fire escape. Aleks then locates one of the hidden knives he has around his apartment as heavy foot steps thud up the stairs. He stands guard, listening closely at the sounds of the intruders over James climbing out the window.

“Aleks, what the fuck?” James hisses, trying to grab Aleks so that he can pull him to safety.

“James, fucking go, please,” Aleks begs as he swats the arm away. He’s trying to remain calm, but he can’t risk James getting hurt when he has nothing to do with whatever these people want.

To his relief, Aleks hears James clatter down the fire escape. He keeps his guard up as three masked people in all black enter the room. From what Aleks can see, he can’t figure out if he has an idea of who any of these people are. He just hopes James got the hell away from here.

“Immortal, good to see you,” says the probable head of the small group. He has a heavy Russian accent that almost makes Aleks shiver in fear.

“Yeah, yeah, good to see you too, whoever you are.” Aleks can’t help but be sarcastic as he watches the men closely. He’s still by the open window and has the knife hidden behind his back. If he throws it and hits one of them, he can use that as an escape.

“Do you know why we are here?” The same man continues to speak. The other two guys remain behind him as if waiting for orders.

“Actually, no I fucking don’t.” Frankley, Aleks is done with this suspenseful talk.

“It’s time to go home, Sasha.” The guy then lunges at Aleks. With lightning fast reflexes, Aleks whips the knife out and buries it deep into the guy. He then climbs out the window, hurriedly making his way down the fire escape. It’s easy for him to run down it since he’s used to it.

“Aleks, Aleks are you okay?” A shaky voice whispers from the shadows as soon as he lands on the ground.

“James?” Aleks watches as James emerges, the lights in the alleyway illuminating eyes still wide in distress. From where Aleks is standing it looks like he’s shaking. “Why didn’t you run?”

“I couldn’t leave you.” James tries to hug Aleks, but he’s shoved away. Instead, Aleks grabs his arm and starts tugging him away from the fire escape where the unknown men are running down.

“We need to run. Don’t say another word. I’ll protect you. I promise.” Thankfully, James does shut up and lets Aleks guide him all over the block. It doesn’t take long for James to be huffing for air, but his fears on what might happen if he stops keeps him pushing.

“Ow, fuck!” screams Aleks when a bullet goes through his shoulder. He stumbles at the impact, but James keeps him upright. Aleks attempts to shake off the pain that is now coursing through his right shoulder and keeps running. That means those fuckers are still on their tails.

“Aleks!” James can’t help but shout when he hears the gunshot and then sees Aleks almost crumple to the ground.

“Keep going!” Aleks grits his teeth against the pain. He keeps a tight hold on James’ hand, probably to the point of bruising it, but James doesn’t say anything about it, with his left hand while he tries to use his right to cover the bullet wound.

“Here.” After a few more minutes of running Aleks leads James to an abandoned building. He’s explored in here before and knows there’s a room that has a closet that they can hide in. When they entered the building, Aleks didn’t hear anyone following him, which is a great sign. He made sure to go all around before he came straight here. Hopefully, guys gave up or lost them as they were still running.

“Aleks, your shoulder!” James’ voice is still a whisper, but it’s full of concern. He takes off the hoodie he’s wearing and presses it to the wound. “We have to get you to the hospital!”

“No,” Aleks protests after letting out a loud groan of pain. He can say he’s been shot a few times, but each time the pain doesn't get easier to deal with. He leans back against the wall, eyes clenching shut against the pain as he tries to regulate his breathing. “Take out my phone.”

“Here.” James slides Aleks’ phone out of his front pocket and hands it to him only for it to be pushed back to him.

“Go into my contacts, find Brett and call him. Tell him your name, that you’re with me, and that we’re at the abandoned building by my apartment because some assholes broke in. Also, tell him I need Anna.” Aleks takes the hoodie from James’ hand and continues to apply pressure. He’s spent between all the running and the fact that he’s losing blood because of the wound. He doesn’t have the energy to deal with Brett, especially now since he’s about to learn about Aleks’ secret relationship. Aleks rattles off his phone password and watches as James does as he says.

“He said he’ll be here in fifteen. Dude, he sounded so pissed. What the fuck is going on?” James finally hands the phone back over to Aleks. This time his voice has a more suspicious edge to it. Aleks knows that James can sense something fishy is going on.

“I’ll explain it all when I’m not about to pass the fuck out. Keep talking to me,” Aleks compromises. He can slowly feel the dizziness that comes with losing blood creeping up on him. He knows James will freak the fuck out if he has to deal with Brett by himself if he goes unconscious. For both of their sakes, Aleks has to stay somewhat coherent. 

James tries to keep Aleks awake as they wait for Brett. He can’t think of anything to really talk about, so he just retells old high school stories. By making low humming noises, James knows that Aleks is trying his best at paying attention so he doesn’t pass out. Of course James is worried about Aleks’ wellbeing, but something is definitely up. He kicks himself for not running away to safety and calling the police, but something about Aleks made him stay just to make sure he was safe. In what feels like longer than 15 minutes, James hears a patterned knock at the door. It opens a second later.

“What in god’s fucking name were you thinking?” Brett says. His voice is level, but it’s clear how much fury he’s holding back. James almost thinks he’s scarier than the guys that broke into Aleks’ apartment.

“Brett, I’m kinda bleeding here. I’m not in the mood right now.” Aleks attempts to stand back up, making pained sounds as he does so. He almost collapses, the blood loss making him weak. James wants to help Aleks, but Brett eyeing him closely is keeping him in place.

“Let’s get you to Anna, you asshole. Trevor and Asher are already checking the cameras.” Brett gently loops his arm around Aleks’ waist to support him. He starts leading him out while James remains still and silent. Brett stops to turn and bark a: “You’re coming with us.” 

“Okay,” says James quietly. Trailing behind the two, Brett brings them to a white expensive looking car. Wordlessly, Brett helps Aleks into the passenger seat then glares at James until he’s settled into the backseat.

“Did you call the police?” asks Brett after a minute of him driving.

The question shocks James since he didn’t expect to be talked to any more than the phone call. “No, I didn’t.”

“Good, if you decided to do so you would have regretted it.”

After that, no more words are spoken by James or to James. The only sounds are the low muffled words to a song on the radio and Aleks occasionally whimpering in pain. James really doesn’t know what he got himself into, but he feels like he’s about to find out since Brett has now stopped at a warehouse looking building. Whatever this place is, it’s actually pretty close to Aleks’ building.

“Get out and don’t move until I tell you. Just stay by the car door,” demands Brett.

“Okay,” is all James is able to reply again. He carefully, as if Brett will break his neck if he moves wrong, exits the car and stands by the door as told.

“Come on, Anna is gonna take care of you in a second,” says Brett softly to Aleks. He had come over to the passenger side and is now helping Aleks out. James wants to reach for him to comfort him again, but Brett sends him another hard glare as if he knew what James wanted to do.

“Follow me. Don’t touch anything and don’t try talking to anyone. You got it?” Brett’s tone goes back to being stone cold. It’s like James had imagined the soft voice he had just used with Aleks. Still, he nods. Pleased with the response, Brett, albeit slowly because of Aleks, enters the warehouse after putting in a code that James couldn’t see.

Entering the building, the first thing James notices is that it’s spacious. The second thing he notices is that it’s messy and it smells like weed/ some type of cleaner. The third thing he notices is that what’s making the mess is all the random guns, knives, and various other parts all over the place. At seeing the deadly weapons, James starts to panic. He looks around more, finally noticing the other people in the room.

There are four people that he can see. Two guys are working on computers. One of them has shaggy brown hair and looks a tad young to be a part of whatever the hell this is. The other guy has shorter blonde hair, but it looks natural unlike Aleks’ hair. He soon spots a girl with brown hair that’s pulled into a ponytail. She has gloves on and is making her way towards Aleks. James guesses she’s Anna, the medic or whatever. The final girl is sitting on one of the couches, scrolling on her phone, but she glances up as James passes by.

“You, sit right there.” Brett points to the couch that the woman is sitting on. Not saying a word, he sits down while making sure to leave a cushion between him and the woman. James watches the other girl lead Aleks away. He wasn’t looking too good when Brett helped him out of the car. Hopefully Aleks can get the help he needs now.

“So, first of all, what’s your name again?” After seeing Aleks off, Brett comes to stand in front of James. He’s even more scary when he is towering over him since James is sitting down.

“James.”

“Alright, so, James, how much do you know about us?” he asks bluntly

The question takes James aback. What’s he supposed to know about them? All he knows is that Brett is standing in front of him and that these guys clearly do something that involves weapons. “Nothing. I know nothing. I promise.”

“What are you to Aleks then?” Brett’s eyes stare into James’ as if he’s daring him to lie about anything.

“I’m his boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Those words seem to throw Brett off as his face contorts to one of confusion for a second. “How long have you two been dating?”

"Uh, five months.” The grill session is making James uncomfortable. This guy had no idea Aleks even had a boyfriend before all of this happened. 

“Interesting. May I ask where you two met?” The words Brett used might have been polite in asking, but there is nothing polite about his tone.

“I met him at a club. I went home with him to, you know. In the morning we actually talked and I liked spending that time together, so I asked if we could keep in touch. We kept talking from there and eventually we started dating.” 

“Hmm, did he ever mention about having a job or anything?” 

“Yeah, yeah, he said he works at the mall around here.” That’s when James realizes that that story is probably just a coverup. He made it sound so convincing when James asked him about his own day at work.

Brett lets out a humorless laugh. “Did he now? Say, James, does this look like a mall to you?”

James takes a glance around the warehouse, paying extra attention to a gun laying on a table a little aways with a box of bullets next to it. “No.”

“Very good. In case you haven’t put two and two together yet, Aleks has been lying to you.”

“Because you guys are criminals?” James thinks it’s safe to say that right now. He lives in Los Santos where gangs and thugs are a common thing. Walking outside is practically a death wish here. Every day on the news there’s more stories about gang wars and whatnot. It’s nothing new anymore.

“We got a smart one over here, guys!” Brett laughs again, this time making James become agitated. If Brett wasn’t so big, and apparently part of a gang, James would have gotten in his face for treating him like an idiot.

“Listen, I really mean no harm to you guys,” James attempts to make peace with the man. It sure as hell is a scary thought that his boyfriend is part of a gang, but, fuck, James really likes this dude. Maybe true love means liking your boyfriend still even after finding out he’s in a gang.

“How do we know?” Brett is back to his emotionless state again, all traces of the previous sarcasm gone.

“I could have called the police when those guys broke into Aleks’ apartment. I could have called the police when I thought something was fishy when Aleks was pushing me out the fire escape, but he wouldn’t follow me. I could have called the police when he got shot! I could have called the police instead of calling you like he asked me to. Now, here I am, waiting to hear if my boyfriend is going to live or not while being interrogated by you.” James really can’t help the annoyance that seeps out of him. If he was going to rat on Aleks, he would have done it by now for sure.

“I’ll go check on him for you,” says Brett after a few seconds of silence as if James’ words melted him a bit. “Lindsey, keep an eye on him.” 

“Mmhmm,” humms the woman on the couch who James now knows is Lindsey. As soon as Brett is out of sight, she puts her phone down. “You know, Aleks has been so much happier recently.”

“Excuse me?” He knows Brett told him not to talk to anyone, but he isn’t going to ignore Lindsey. Besides, she spoke to him first.

“He was miserable a little while ago. He was snappy towards all of us, and he’s never been like that. We didn’t know what his issue was. We let him be since he still did his jobs. Then, all of a sudden he became friendlier and more happy like he was before. We thought he was taking drugs or something, but I guess we found the real reason why he became happy again.” Unlike Brett, Lindsey smiles at him in a soothing manner that almost makes him feel welcomed.

“Uh, thank you?” Despite, well, all of this, her comment warms his heart. Because of him, Aleks is happier.

“Don’t worry too much about Aleks. I promise he’ll be fine. Anna is a great medic and Aleks is one tough cookie.” Lindsey is now back on her phone, only paying half attention to him. James nods in response, hoping her words are right.

“He’s fine,” Brett announces when he comes back a few minutes later. “He’s asking for you.” Brett turns back around and retraces his footsteps. James jumps up from the couch in assumption that Brett wants him to follow him. 

“Before you see him, I just want to say that he’s sorta out of it because of the pain medication I gave him. He’s gonna need lots of rest in order to recover, but he’s just fine,” Anna informs him outside of what James assumes is the medical room. 

“Got it. Thank you for, uh, taking care of him.” James internally cringes at his words, but he’s just happy to know his boyfriend is alive. 

“That’s my job.” Anna smiles at him too and it’s friendly much like Lindsey’s was. It makes James a little less scared about this whole situation. Anna lets him enter the room, of course being followed by Brett.

“Aleks!” James cries out in relief at seeing his boyfriend. He’s sitting up in the bed with pillows stuffed behind his back. His shirt is off, his chest tattoo that James loves to trace over mostly being covered by the gauze wrapped around his shoulder and upper chest.

“Hey,” he says shyly, not meeting James’ eyes right away for he fears the worst. Instead, James rushes over to the bed to smoosh his cheeks and give his a passionate kiss. When James is done, he places his forehead against Aleks’.

“You fuckin’ asshole. Getting shot and almost dying,” laughs James out of pure joy at seeing that his boyfriend is alright. He then pulls away, aware of Brett’s presence still in the room. 

“Brett, can you please let us be?” asks Aleks who also notices he’s still in the room. Brett looks hesitant to leave, but he nods and exits the room. Finally, James feels like he can breathe normally.

“I’m sorry,” Aleks starts off, avoiding eye contact with his boyfriend yet again.

“For what? Not telling me that you’re in a gang?” 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Aleks glances up at him, a small smile on his face. James isn’t going off on him like he expected, so he’s taking that as a good sign.

James debates on if he should ask a certain question, but he decides to ask anyway since he’s already in this mess. “The gang you’re in, are you guys well known?” James knows there’s levels in the crime world. There are the ones that run everything to ones that try and make it big, but are crushed by even more powerful crews. If Aleks is in a bigger, more well known crew, maybe he has a better chance of being safer in a sense.

Aleks laughs a bit which then makes him wince in pain. “Yes, we’re known as Fake Chop. Ever heard of us?”

At the mention of the name, James’ mind flashes back to all the news outlets reporting about this new crew that named themselves “Fake Chop”. Allegedly born from an ex Hub member and a freelancer, Fake Chop quickly rose to become one of the most feared groups in Los Santos. These guys have already caused more trouble than crews that have been established for years. James is dating a guy from Fake Chop. A guy that called him crying when Celia went missing so they went out looking for her until 2 in the morning only to find her hidden deep in Aleks’ closet later.

“Yeah, I have. You guys are pretty fucked up.” James still can’t believe that Aleks is part of a gang, let alone one that powerful. This is still the guy who loves to play bass and sing songs of key on purpose to James. The same one who just comforted him with a fantastic homemade dinner after he had a shitty day at work. People who are part of the crime world wouldn’t do any of that.

“Only to people who fuck with us. We try to leave civilians out of everything. They’re just trying to live their lives, man.” 

“Oh, so I’m an exception?” James means for the words to be light hearted, but the look on Aleks’ face is one of regret. The sight make James’ heart clench. “Hey, no, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I should have known better,” mutters Aleks instead of responding to James. His eyes are downcast and he’s toying with the bracelets around his wrist. “I’m dating you and now look what happened. Now you know. This wasn’t supposed to last this long. There’s just something about you that makes me keep wanting to see you.”

“It’s my hair, honestly,” James jokes in attempt to get Aleks to not beat himself up. At the words, he does look up and manages to crack a smile. Aleks has confessed before about how much he loves playing with James’ hair. He loves to run his fingers through it, twirl it around, and even braid it on occasion. 

“Yeah, part of it.” Aleks lets out a noise that sounds like “heh”. James guesses it’s his way to laugh without any pain. 

“Aleksandr,” James uses his full name to show that now he wants to get serious. When Aleks’ full attention is on him he continues, “While I hate you, no I don’t, for lying to be about being in a gang, it was to protect me, right?”

“Yeah.” Aleks breaks the eye contact again, but looks back up when James softly says his name again.

“I like you, Aleks. I really do. These five months have been really nice so far. Actually, in two weeks it’ll be our sixth. Crazy, right? Anyway, I want to say that I still want to be with your stupid ass even though you’re in a gang,” says James in a short and to the point manner. It’s as simple as that. He willingly still wants to keep dating Aleks even after discovering this bombshell. 

“Really? Are you sure? You’re not scared of me? James, I’m in a gang. All those people out there are in my crew. I risk my life practically every day. One day I might not come back from a heist or some shit,” rambles Aleks. Though his words are to try and deter James from his decision now that he knows the truth, Aleks’ eyes beg James to stay with him.

“Well, I guess I have to enjoy my time with you then,” says James casually. Deep down, he is worried about Aleks dying, but it seems like Aleks can handle himself. Almost six months of dating and he hasn’t died.

“You’re an idiot,” Aleks says fondly before he lets out a sigh. “Can you please get Brett? Anna will kill me if I move.” 

“Of course.” James heads back out the way he came, entering the main area and finding Brett on the couch where he was forced to sit. “Excuse me, Brett?”

“What?” Brett looks at him with those eyes that seem to hold no soul.

“Aleks wants you.”

“Stay here,” Brett snaps at him again as he gets up. Of course, James obeys and replaces Brett’s spot on the couch.

“So, who are you? Aleks’ boyfriend?” The one guy with shaggy brown hair comes over to him. So far, it seems like Brett is the one that is most concerned about him being here.

“Trevor, leave him alone. Go back to searching for whoever tried to kidnap Aleks.” Linsey swats at the guy, causing him to whine until Lindsey tells him to leave again. “Trevor just loves to be in everyone’s business.” She rolls her eyes. “But real talk, are you two still together now that you know about all of this?” 

James takes a second to think how hypocritical it is that she asked something personal after that Trevor kid just tried to do so. Still, he responds with, “Yeah, we are. It’s probably dumb, but I really like him.” 

“Good, I can’t imagine if Aleks turned into a grumpy pants again. Like I said, you really make him happier.” Like the first time she talked to him, Lindsey goes back to scrolling on her phone. James sits there quietly afterwards, unsure of what else he can say.

“If you die because of this, it’s not my fucking fault,” mutters Brett when he returns some ten minutes later. James stares at him wide eyed as Brett walks past the couch where he is still sitting. He goes out of sight, but the sound of a door slamming is unmistakable as it echoes throughout the silent warehouse. James flinches at the noise.

From beside him, Lindsey lets out a deep sigh. “James, just don’t mind Brett. He really hates when normal people get involved with what we do. He cares, trust me. He doesn’t want you to die. He also cares about Aleks. Brett doesn’t want to see Aleks get hurt either.”

“He doesn’t trust me. I swear I won’t rat you guys out to the police!” James attempts to defend himself again.

“Of course he doesn’t trust you. He just met you. Don’t forget Brett is also upset since Aleks kept your relationship from him and lied. Aleks knew Brett would freak out like this if he found out he’s dating a civilian. Give it a few days for Aleks to recover and for Brett to absorb all of this.” Another smile from Lindsey and James become more assured.

“What about Aleks? What if those guys come back to his house?” James can’t help but worry now about what those people might do in order to finish whatever goal they had. 

“Anna is probably going to make him stay here for the night. As for his apartment, he’s going to have to move. Can’t risk having them coming back. They probably know about you now, so you might as well stay here too for the night.”

“I can’t stay here! I have to take care of my dog!” There is no way James is leaving Ein alone overnight after all of this.

“Ooh, bring him here!” Lindsey perks up at the dog mention.

“Well, I have to go home to get her, but I don’t have my car,” James points out. How the fuck does she expect him to go back to his house when he was driven here in Brett’s car?

“Oh, yeah.” Lindsey pauses for a second. “Asher, can you come here, please?”

“What?” a voice calls back loudly. Asher leaves his station to come over to Lindsey, casting a glance at James. He also looks like he isn’t bothered by James’ presence.

“Can you take James home to get his dog and an overnight bag? It’s best he stays here. You should also look for places to put some security cameras.”

“Security cameras? Why do I need more security cameras? My complex already has an alarm system and cameras,” questions James.

Lindsey gives him a look. “This way if those people, or anyone else, try to break into your house, we will know and we can hopefully help you. Since you’re in this now, we’re going to protect you as much as possible.”

“Oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense.” If they are doing this to protect him, then so be it. Just because he still wants to date Aleks, even though he is a criminal, James doesn’t want to die. 

“Let’s go,” Asher says to James before he screams, “Trevor, come on! We’re leaving!” His surprisingly high voice startles James. Wordlessly, he follows the two guys out to a red car that’s less expensive looking than Brett’s, but still nicer than James’ car.

James expects the car ride to be awkward considering he’s in a car with two of Aleks’ crew members. He is expecting another game of 20 questions, but the only thing that happens is Trevor and Asher sing along to one of Asher’s playlists. They don’t talk to James, save for when Asher asked for his address and where to park at the complex.

“This is a nice place, dude,” compliments Trevor as they all get out of the car.

“Thanks, man.” Thankfully, James has a spare key hidden since he left his wallet and keys behind while trying to escape Aleks’ apartment. He locates the key and enters his apartment, Ein immediately greeting him.

“Can I pet your dog?” Trevor begs at seeing the Corgi that’s dancing at James’ feet.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Her name is Ein.” As soon as he is granted permission, Trevor crouches down. Ein waddles over to the male, soaking up all the attention Trevor, and now Asher, are giving her. 

“Go get your stuff, Trevor and I will scout for good areas to place the alarms and cameras,” Asher tells him.

“Got it.” James first enters his bedroom. He finds his old duffle bag that he took to the gym, when he thought going to one was a good idea, and fills it with comfy clothes for the night and another outfit for tomorrow. He even throws in clothes for Aleks, which is easy enough to do since Aleks is smaller than him. He grabs a few other basic things like his phone charger, deodorant, hairbrush, etc., and then it’s on to getting Ein’s stuff.

“Okay, I’m ready,” James announces. The duffle bag strap is slung over his shoulder, a plastic bag handing off his left arm full of stuff for Ein, and his left hand is holding her bed. He’s holding her leash with his right, which he struggles to clip on due to the weight of the stuff.

“Here, let me help.” Trevor takes the bed and the plastic bag from James before he even has time to process that he’s being helped.

“Thank you.” James is still surprised by the kindness of the two. He wants to ask them why they don’t hate him like Brett does, but he’s just rolling with it at this point.

“Trevor and I found some good spots, so tomorrow morning we’ll come and install them, okay?” Asher is now leading them back to his car, Ein happily trotting alongside them.

“Yeah, sounds good.” On the way back to the warehouse, James holds Ein on his lap the entire ride. Like when they were driving to James’ place, on the way back, Trevor and Asher sing along to songs. Trevor then helps James carry his stuff back into the warehouse.

“I made Aleks move to the bedroom. I suggest you sleep in the other spare bed just so you don’t hurt him by accident while sleeping. There’s pain medication on the nightstand. Make sure he takes it in the morning. If you need to, find a way to call me. I know Aleks won’t call if something is up. I’m going home, good night,” Anna says after pointing him in the direction of where the room is and after she fawns over Ein for a minute.

“Okay, cool, good night to you too.” James shuffles to the room, Ein trying to sniff around as she is pulled along by James. Trevor is also following with Ein’s stuff still in his arms.

“James?” Aleks’ mumbles when James opens the door. There is a lamp on one of the tables that’s on. Thanks to the dim, soft lighting, he can see Aleks laying on his left side. However, he rolls onto his back, causing him to groan softly, so he can view whoever is at the door.

“Yeah, I’m here. Look who else I brought.” James unclips Ein’s leash. She runs over to bed Aleks is on, trying to hop on, but to no avail. Aleks instead dangles his arm over the edge so that she can lick his hand and receive a few pats. Trevor hands over the stuff he was carrying and leaves with a quick saying of ‘good night’.

“Hi, Ein,” coos Aleks, lazily petting Ein’s ears. He’s always wanted to get a dog, but he doesn’t want his dog to lose it’s owner if he happens to get killed. The poor thing would have no idea what happened to him if he doesn’t come home one day. Celia is so much easier to take care of in this case.

No more words are spoken for that time being. James sets Ein’s bed close to his. He also places her food and water dishes down after going into the ensuite bathroom to fill one with water. Sprinkling a few of her toys around, Ein should now be set for her stay here. James changes, taking a quick glance at Aleks only to see his eyes are shut. Being extra careful to not disturb him incase he fell asleep that fast, James places a soft kiss on his forehead. Aleks’ eyes slowly open at the action.

“Stay with me for right now,” he murmurs, voice light since he’s on the verge of falling asleep.

“Of course.” James carefully crawls into the bed with Aleks. He scoots over to him so that Aleks doesn’t have to move an inch. Aleks places his head in the crook of James’ neck while James hand moves to his hair. It’s getting a bit longer, which James is loving since there is more hair for James to run his fingers through.

“I’m so sorry,” Aleks whispers again. He does feel bad for dragging James into his mess of a life, but James has really made him into a somewhat more compassionate person. Before him, he would just kill guys even if there was no real reason for them to die. Brett would yell at him, but Aleks didn’t care. Now, he does. He only kills if it’s needed.

“Shh, we’ll wait til later to talk about this more,” soothes James, continuing to run his fingers through blonde hair.

“Okay, good night, James. Thank you.”

“Good night, Aleksandr,” James says quietly.

After that, there’s silence between the two of them. From what James can hear, it sounds like everyone else wrapped up what they were doing as well. He doesn’t blame them since it’s close to 2:00 in the morning. James waits a while before moving again. He just stares at the ceiling, thoughts swirling around his head on what his life will possibly be like now. When he’s certain that Aleks is in a deep sleep, James carefully removes himself from the bed. He tucks the blanket back around Aleks, being mindful of his shoulder, and gives him another kiss on the forehead.

“Well, Ein, I have a feeling our life is about to change big time.” James can see Ein’s tail nub wiggle, making him laugh quietly. Ein is completely oblivious to everything. She’s just happy because of all the new people she met. James turns off the lamp, heading to the other bed in the room and pulling back the covers. When he wakes up maybe everything will make more sense, but for now, he needs to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's a fic or 2 about one of them not being in Fake Chop while the other is, so I got inspiration from those authors who I sadly can't remember right now. I hope you all enjoyed this!


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